TiVo sues AT&T, Verizon over DVR patents

TiVo Inc. on Wednesday sued AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. for patent infringement, including one covering the ability to pause and rewind live TV.

The DVR maker filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, seeking damages for past infringement and a permanent injunction.

“There are multichannel operators who compete with us through the unauthorized use of our intellectual property,” said TiVo CEO Tom Rogers, in a conference call with analysts. He added that while there were talks, “business agreements have not been reached.”

AT&T declined to comment. Verizon said it hasn’t seen the lawsuit yet and can’t comment.

Separately, TiVo received a setback Wednesday in a similar patent lawsuit against Dish Network Corp. and sister firm EchoStar Corp. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that the re-examination of TiVo’s patent that’s the subject of litigation may continue.

TiVo had asked the agency to vacate Dish’s request to look anew at the patents.

TiVo sued Dish in 2004, alleging that Dish infringed on its DVR technology. Dish lost. While the case was on appeal, Dish designed a modified software that it downloaded to customers’ DVRs. But TiVo said the workaround software still infringed on its patent and asked the district court for a permanent injunction. TiVo prevailed but Dish appealed the ruling.